The Heart's Lesson
by Enola Tey Esiw
Summary: Tobias has the oppurtunity to fix it all- Jake, Marco, AND Ax, dead as he is... but will The Heart give him a fair offer? Will HE survive this? Sequel to Unforbidden Love...
1. Prolouge

This is the sequel to _Unforbidden Love. _I promise, you won't understand this unless ou read that first. It's not long, only 7 (I think) Chapters, all pretty short, and it's worth it.

To all those who've read UL: Enjoy!

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The Animorphs are in trouble. Big trouble.

You see, someone is messing with them. Messing with them GOOD.

Jake got a letter from Cassie saying she didn't love him, in her handwriting. She wrote it… this was no forgery.

Marco's dad got shot … suicide?... no one knows.

Ax's parents were destroyed, along with their unborn child.

And each one tried to commit suicide. Ax succeeded. But for Jake and Marco, they are Broken. They can't talk, can't communicate what's happened. They were both submitted to the hospital.

Tobias, on the other hand, was there. He saw the letter. He saw the heartbreak.

Tobias is a Broken.

He met someone- someone who refuses to show themselves, who calls themselves The Heart- they are pain, suffering, and what happens. Tobias, living his life, became a Permanent Broken. He cannot become someone like Cassie or Rachel, who love so freely. He cannot. It is impossible.

Which is why The Heart spoke to him…

Only he can stop this.

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Soooooo... This time, I'm gonna actually PLAN what the chapters are! Yay me! Please review, I wanna see if anyone likes it...


	2. Heart to Heart

_**Only you can stop this.**_

"So… so I do this, and what happens? I know they messed with Jake… Marco… Ax… and were gonna mess with me, but who? What happens to me? Do I get anything out of this?"

_**I will make it so none of this ever happened. Jake will be fine. Marco will be fine, along with his father. And Ax will be alive. So… you in or not?**_

"Yeah. I'm in. Why do you talk like that?" Tobias asked.

_**Like what?**_

"Like that. Like a kid. Not all proper and stuff," he said.

_**I am not a pompous old pig like the Ellimist and Crayak. In their terms, I am a child, but I've been around several millennia. I don't lie like the Ellimist and I'm **_**much **_**nicer than Crayak. Why? Do you not like it?**_

"No. It's better," Tobias said with a grin. "Very kind descriptions."

_**I know. You can tell that we are the best of pals, me, Ellimist, and Crayak.**_

Tobias grinned even wider. "So… what do I have to do? Kill anybody? What? And WHO is messing with us?"

_**Let me tell you a story…**_


	3. A Heart's Story

Awww... I like this chapter. I hope everyone else will too. PLease R&R! Oh, and di everyone like my cliffie?

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_**Once upon a time, there was me. I was born at the beginning of the universe, the beginning of time. I was created with the universe. We are born along with a planet. Crayak, Ellimist. However, unlike them, I was not born alone. I was born with another person. My twin. **_A picture of The Heart and her twin was shown.

_**As I am The Heart, being of love and romance, my twin was The Killer, being of hate and hurt. We grew together, as any children would. We were very close, but as I was sweet and tender, he was rough and cruel. A baby by the side of a road, if I was there, would be picked up by a pair of tender, loving parents. However, if my brother were there, it would be put in a long, sustained misery, with rain and hail.**_ A picture of gunshots, crying baby's, teenagers, and even adults, and misery no one can summarize were shown.

_**As we grew into our teen years, (at about 13000) I realized how cruel he was. We had a huge fight- so big, all the universe was at War. It was, for you, a war you do not recall, but there was no peace. It went on for a year.**_ The wars were shown- Hork-Bajir, human, Anadalite, taxxon, and many, many more species.

_**Eventually, after so much death, so much grieving, we broke apart. We went our different ways. I went to Earth, and focused there. I also focused much on the Anadalite home world. I am what humans call "Cupid," and also "Venus." I am the God of Love. **_People in love- a first kiss, a walk in the park, intertwining hands.

_**My brother, however, went on to cause as much pain as possible. I was the only thing keeping him in check, and with me gone, his evil was unleashed. Crayak is ruled by him, although he does not know it. He went everywhere, but mostly Earth, as he knew humans were a special favorite of mine, and they were so easy to persuade.**_

_**And so, he unleashed the Yeerks on Earth. And now he trying to ruin the Earths resistance.**_

_**And, well, you make the story now, **_she said. And you could almost see a tear run down her face, if she had had one.

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Awwww... She loved her brother very much. There is no question about that. She still loves him, but she is also prepared to destroy him for the good of the universe. SHe is also extremely vulnerable, as she sees herself as her brother if she does destroy him. This is why she tries to give everyone something to do. It was her that pushed the Animorphs into that construction site.

Please R&R!


	4. Meet the Team

Tobias was in a room. A very fine room, with a chandelier and a big, long, mahogany table, which he was sitting at. The sixteenth-century carpet beneath his feet was beautiful, with deep reds, blues, and greens. He looked at his hands, staring at them, pale and dry. He had been in this morph for much longer than his two hours, but The Heart said it didn't matter. His mind drifted back to their conversation.

She had taken the form of a beautiful woman, with long, wavy blonde hair, a petite figure, and a tan complexion. Her peach dress flowed behind her, along with her hair, and Tobias knew this was indeed the goddess of love.

"I decided to tweak the rules a little bit. Nothing major. Nevertheless, it will give you a head start. It is enough to make a difference, but little enough my brother will not notice it. The time limit is meaningless. You can stay in morph as long as you need to. Here we are," The Heart (although she had said to call her Enola) said, sweeping open the door to the room he was in now. "Have a seat. The others will join you."

"What others…" he yelled as she shut the door. And here he was now.

The door opened. A boy with short, curly hair and a very tan complexion walked in. His dark brown eyes and trusting expression gave the impression he could be trusted. But the set of those eyes, the hardness, showed he himself wouldn't trust easily.

He sat across from Tobias. "Hi," he said.

"Hi," Tobias replied.

The boy stuck out his hand. "I'm Mike. You meet her?"

Tobias shook the hand. Mike pumped it once, firmly. "You mean The Heart or Aria or whatever?"

Mike nodded. "Yeah," Tobias said.

Mike grinned. "I got so used to her as a voice that her as a person is pretty weird. She's weird."

Tobias cracked a grin too. "Have you known her long?" he asked.

"Well, yeah. I knew her as a voice when she saved me from drowning when I was about 5. I chalked it up to hallucinations until she talked to me again a couple days ago. What about you?"

Tobias grimaced. "It's… complicated. And, to be frank, I don't really trust you, so I'd rather not tell you as it could mean the end of our race. No pressure."

Mike nodded again. "Don't blame you, man. I have secrets myself that I never divulge. Of course, they can't bring…"

SLAM! The door whammed open. "Oops," a girl giggled. She had waist-length brown hair that was in pigtails, was about 5 foot 6, and stood tall. She had the air of Rachel- big, strong, and in your face. She 

also seemed goofier than Rachel, with her girlish giggle and pigtails. She plopped herself down next to _Mike. _

"Hey," she said.

"Hey, Erin," Mike said. He did not seem particularly happy with this arrangement. It was obvious they knew each other, and also that Erin was much more interested in Mike than Mike was in Erin.

"Tobias… that is your name, right?... this is Erin. She goes to school with me," Mike said with a grimace.

Erin smiled. "Tobias? That's a cool name. Mine's Erin. Sooo… when's that whacko lady gonna tell us what the…"

The door creaked. A small girl peeked in, along with another boy. "This the right room?" said the girl.

"Should be. Who knows?" Mike said. Erin giggled again.

They walked in. The boy sat next to Mike, and the girl next to Tobias. "Hi, I'm Pixie," said the girl, hand out to Tobias. He shook it gently, as if afraid to break her hand, which, in fact, he was.

Pixie was a very small girl, probably only 4 feet tall. She did have a pixie-ish figure. She was very petite, and looked as though she was made of porcelain. She had platinum blonde hair, almost white, that framed her face, except for a few wisps over her eyes.

"It's seriously Pixie?" Tobias asked.

"No, actually it's Philadelphia," said Pixie. She smiled and laughed. Her laughed sounded beautiful- like bells, making you want to join in. "But people just call me Pixie. I'm short, and well, like a pixie. Never share a room with me- I like to short-sheet." Her eyes glinted mischievously.

Erin giggled again. Pixie flared up. "You have a problem with my name?" She snapped.

Erin stopped giggling. "Erin suffers from impulsive giggling. Just ignore it," Mike said. He sounded slightly disgusted. She started again. "Thank God no other girl from school is here," Tobias heard Mike whisper. _If this is her on low, I agree with Mike. _Tobias thought.

Mike turned to the other guy. "I'm Mike," he said.

"John. Nice to meet you," he mumbled. The door creaked open again. Another girl peeked in.

"Hi. I'm Aria. I sit here?" she said, pointing to the chair on the other side of Tobias. She sat anyway.

Aria was about Tobias's height. She had bright red hair that gave the impression her head was on fire, and her eyes glinted with a bright green.

As everyone introduced themselves, Tobias zoned out after he did. He thought of all of the people. If this was his new group, he was most definitely the odd one out again.

Mike seemed cool. He was a bit strange, but cool. He definitely respected Tobias's privacy. He knew Erin, which was an advantage (He knew someone) and a disadvantage (she was particularly annoying).

Erin was, well, high-pitched and giggly. She was Rachel but more annoying. And more girly.

Pixie seemed- well, cool. She was petite and smart and mischevious. Tobias thought of how Marco would have loved her- pretty, funny, and shorter than he was.

John- well, he had only said about one sentence so far, so he assumed he was pretty shy.

Aria- Aria was Rachel. Take charge, kick butt… Yep. She was almost Rachel.

The door opened again. This time, Enola/The Heart came in. She had the appearance she was floating. She came to the front of the room and stood.

"Now, I assume you all know each other, and have an idea why you're here. But, I think only Tobias," she pointed with her pointer at him, and he hung his head shyly, "and John," she pointed at him, and he turned bright red, "really know. Now here's the real reason. You are all Broken. You all deal with it in different ways."

Mike interrupted. "What do you mean, broken? I feel fine."

"Broken is when you are so hurt you cannot love or feel emotion in the normal ways. It's like an empty hole where your heart was. On occasion a Broken can love, but this is not often. There is also Temporarily Broken, which is what happens, say, during a divorce or after a break-up," John said. The room was quiet.

"Oh," Mike said, and Pixie giggled with Erin this time.

Enola began to talk again. "Thank you, John. You are all permanently Broken. There is no record of a permanent Broken becoming UnBroken. Now, I told you all my… my story. You must defeat The Killer. Only broken can do this, as they will unflinchingly destroy evil. And they also become a much stronger group.

"I chose you for your ability to work with other people. You each bring something to the group. You are all equals." She looked at Aria. "Equals," she repeated. Aria met her gaze unflinchingly.

Tobias put in, "But… well," he blushed, "Aren't I in love? I mean… you know… yeah."

Pixie, Erin, and Aria all shot him looks. Mike raised his eyebrows. John still looked down.

"Yes, you are. It is rare for a Broken to love, but you do. I've watched you carefully. Rachel is a good girl." Enola smiled.

"Now, you all need to go to bed. The rooms are upstairs- you all passed the staircase- and you all have a roommate. Two, actually. Girls on the right side, boys on the left. Meet here at noon tomorrow. Good night, everyone.

They all departed. "G'night!" everyone called.

Tobias opened the door to a new room- new friends- new life- and stepped inside.

"Woah."

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Hahahahaha. I like this chapter. It's really just an intro to new characters, and I like the new characters. I like Mike, Pixie, Aria, Erin, John, and Enola. Enola is, FYI, alone backwards. I thought it fit.

Please review! Please tell me your fave new characters- I can really dig deep. heheheheheh


	5. Erin's Story

Even if no one DID comment (hint, hint) I'm updating. I like this story. So there, ha ha. THis is Erin's story, who she is, crap like that. PLEASE review!

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ERIN'S POV

Our room was… well, beautiful. I had never seen anything like it. It was HUGE! We had three closets, one for each of us… and a desk, bookshelf, table, computer (with internet), and a bunk bed for each of us! Aria chose a bed- one in the corner- and I chose the one in the other corner. Our beds were all on one half of the room- One in each corner, and one in-between those two.

We looked in the closets to find our clothes- and some with brand-name labels, like Abercrombie. All of our CD's and a stereo on the desk, and right now we were listening to Taylor Swift. Aria was a lot less up-tight and fun as she warmed up.

"His favorite color's green," she belted. Pixie was singing, too, but in a much more quiet way. She had a gentle voice, quiet and sweet. Pixie was covering one of the walls in posters, stuff like that. Aria was making her bed, like me.

I had decided to take out the bottom bunk of my bed, and I pulled my bean-bag chair, radio, and some book and made a little nest in there. I liked it- liked it more than where I was living now, at least.

You see, I lived in a home for run-aways. My dad was a drunk, my brothers were in foster homes, but had refused. I had run away after… after that night.

My dad always drunk beer, morning to night. He didn't work, leaving my mom to earn all of the money. I had to work jobs, too, so people wouldn't see our family's situation, so I could wear good clothes and get new school supplies and buy the presents for my brothers.

Then, one night, my dad was really drunk, and he got really, really mad at my mom. She was yelling, he was yelling, and…

… and he grabbed a knife, and stabbed her.

I screamed, and ran to my room. I had some stuff in a bag, because I had been planning to run away for a while.

I went to a local run-away shelter, and they took me in. My dad was put in jail for life, and I stayed at the shelter, writing letters to my brothers, refusing to talk to dad…

I wondered what had befallen these girls, these ones that I shared my room with. By now, I was done making my bed, with my horse blanket on it, the one my grandmother had sent me. I sat down on my bean bag chair. Then I began looking through all of my old photos.

ARIA'S POV

I was making my bed, feeling more at home than ever before. I was having a blast- these girls were so nice to me! I couldn't believe it. They can even take me singing.

My bed was a royal mess, usually, but now I was taking the time to make it perfectly. We were all sleeping on the top bunk, and we all had different uses for the bottom bunk. I was making mine anyway, Pixie was putting all of her favorite books on it, and Erin had removed it and put a bean-bag chair she had under it, along with her radio and a few books and note-pads.

Erin was a lot quieter than you would expect form her example when we met her. She mostly just made her bed, organized her clothes, stuff like that. She was amazingly neat, and amazingly quiet around everyone else.

I watched her when I finished my bed. She sat on her chair, and grabbed a scrapbook. She flipped the pages, and then I noticed something that I would never expect to see.

A single tear slipped down her face.

Erin acted, and was, really tough. She told us she liked shooting, hunting, stuff like that. She was considered a boy by a lot of people. Even her best friends would say that. But, alone, she acted more like a girl than ever.

I rushed over, hopping off my top bunk. "Erin, what's wrong?" I whispered. Pixie immediately ran over too.

She was sobbing now. I took the scrapbook, and looked at the picture. There was one- and I immediately knew what was wrong.

Her and a boy, a boy who looked just like Mike- standing at a door, which was probably her door. They were both smiling like crazy, his hand around her waist, her head on his shoulder. She was in a stunning dress- blue, with flowers embroidered onto it. So… they had gone out. It was obvious she still liked Mike.

The other photo was a little baby, wrapped in a pink blanket, with a smiling woman, and a smiling man. Her mother and father, I realized.

"Pixie," I whispered.

PIXIE'S POV

I looked at the pictures Aria passed to me. And I immediately realized what was wrong.

Erin leaned onto her hands, crying, sobbing. I pulled her off and took her hands in mine, She looked up at me, tears streaking her face. She leaned onto me, crying onto my shoulder.

"Shhhh," I whispered, "shhhhh. It's okay."

She came up. "I… I miss them."

Aria asked, "Who? Mike or your family?"

Erin gulped. "Both. But… but I know I can see Mike, and he might like me again. But… but I can never see my mom again."

She opened her mouth and began her story.

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Sooooo... does this explain Erin? I hope it does. Anyone opposed to the story so far? Everyone happy? (You'd better be fine with it) Sooo... Who's next? Pixie? Aria? John? Mike? We all know Tobias. I hope. Anyway, press the pretty button... you know, the lilac one... the one your mouse is hopefully on... Come on!


	6. All About Mike

Haha! I finally got this up! Sorry for the wait, I was sick. Here's mike for ya!

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MIKE'S POV

"Whoa," Tobias said.

I mean, he was right. Very right. I liked this place. Freaking awesome, man. Huge. Our bed's were in a triangle, just like the girls room when we went in there, exact same layout.

None of my rooms were ever NEAR this nice!

I decided to pop in Serj Tankian. I couldn't believe when neither Tobias OR John, here, had even heard of him. He's seriously hardcore, man, but he is awesome.

We all made our bed, and I got done really fast. At least moving so much was good for one thing- I could make a bed in under two minutes.

I sat down and began surfing the net on the computer we had. I never got much time on the comp. at anywhere else, because my adoptive parents never had enough money for one. But school always had one, so my buds taught me to surf pretty well. Let's just say, I usually didn't like their taste, so I surfed by myself.

For laughs, I decided to Google myself. If only I had known it would lead to the hell it has…

Right on top was _Mike's Story._ I clicked on it.

I began to scroll down. It sounded familiar… a little _too _familiar. It sounded…

Like me.

I scrolled desperately up. Was it? No…

Written by: Casi Smiths, on the dangers of adoption

She did it. Wait… I clicked _see authors profile. _

_Holy coco, today was hard! I finally got out of my rejection stupor, and got around to writing another chap. Thanks to everyone who reviewed- my story is #5 on the list of most-read stories! And to everyone else- please read and review!_

Only she said Holly Coco. Only she was rejected by Alex only a few days ago.

She wrote it.

I went to my bed, and did what I never do.

I cried.

JOHN'S POV

"So… is this guy always so hard-core?" I joked. Serj Tankian was good, but… _weird. _Then, as I turned, I saw Mike on his bed. I looked at Tobias, on the computer, and he motioned over to me.

_Here's a new story idea I got… my first story on here, so please review! -Casi-_

_It was cold again. I was all alone in this laundry room I had to use. The dryer had given out and I was shivering from another dunk in the Sani-flushed toilet when Mr. Johnson had gotten mad. I looked back on the day, even if it hurt…_

_I had gotten home from school late today. Detention. As I opened the door Mr. Johnson came over, yelling._

The story continued. It was all about a boy named Mike, who's parents had died when he was three. He always ended in foster homes where all the people wanted was the money. He was mistreated, hurt, and alone. He turned to cutting himself to feel something other than the hurt he felt inside.

Until he came to the Johnson's.

The parents were no better than any other pair. But the people… they were so much nicer.

A boy, Jacob, had immediately befriended him, along with Tim and Austin. And a few girls.

One was named Erin, and she was giggly and hyper and tough. Another was Kathy, a very gifted writer who was quiet and morbid sometimes, but at other the most wild and crazy person you could ever meet.

He talked to them all about everything, but only Kathy about home.

"_It hurts, because I know that no one will ever love me. Ever. Not as messed up as I am," I confessed. She took my hand and looked me in the eyes. _

"_Mike- you are one of the best people I have ever met. If no one loves you, then that's their problem, but you are an amazing person. I know Erin likes you," she said._

Eventually he asked Erin out. They were the 'it' couple for a few months, but then he broke it off with a 'it's not the same anymore.' And it wasn't.

The newest chapter ended:

_I knew that Erin was still insane about me, but I didn't like her as much anymore. She was a great friend, but that was it._

_Who did I like?_

_Even I don't know._

TOBIAS'S POV

So. This was Mike. Why he was Broken. Why he was so tough. The scars on his arms.

"Mike?" I asked him. He looked up. "She was right. People love you."

And we left him to his tears.

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Woon woon woooon. Dun dun duuun. All that crap.

So, who next? Aria or Pixie? I'm going g-b-g-b-g on this. Pretty bios almost done!


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